Canucks still trying to 'figure out' best plan for pending UFA Hamhuis

Canucks fans take photos of Dan Hamhuis.

Photograph by: Jeff Vinnick
, NHL1 via Getty Images

Alex Goligoski received the star treatment in Arizona on Monday.

The pending unrestricted free agent defenceman, whose exclusive negotiation rights were dealt to the Coyotes by the Dallas Stars on Thursday for a fifth-round pick in the 2016 draft, can’t talk to other suitors until Saturday.

It's a prudent move by the Stars. They unload a 30-year-old blue-liner who’ll get a raise on the $4 million US he earned last NHL season; they have depth at the position and youth to promote.

Which makes you wonder about the Vancouver Canucks.

A team could call the Canucks to exclusively negotiate with UFA Dan Hamhuis.

If pending UFA Dan Hamhuis isn’t part of the plan — the door for his return here to take a big pay cut from $4.25 million as a No. 5 D-man is only open a crack after the acquisition of Erik Gudbranson — general manager Jim Benning would welcome a similar scenario to the Goligoski transaction.

“We would do something like that, but we haven’t had any calls,” Benning said Monday. “And that whole situation with Dan I would say is still fluid. We’re going to see at the draft when we’re talking to other teams if there are players who make us better and then we can circle back with Dan and try to get something figured out. There’s nothing that has changed on that, we’re still trying to figure it out.”

The Canucks tried to move Hamhuis to Chicago and Dallas at the trade deadline. It looked like Texas was going to be an agreeable destination for everybody, but the Stars opted for Kris Russell and then circled back to Hamhuis but scenarios were far from palatable. Losing Hamhuis, 33, for nothing when free agency opens July 1 isn’t good asset management. Benning is hoping Chicago is over its deadline disappointment with the pursuit of Hamhuis and comes calling again. Or that Los Angeles covets the exclusive rights.

Then again, any club could wait until Saturday and not cough up a pick and then see how free agency plays out with the uncertainty of where the salary cap ceiling will be.

Here are other roster and draft issues facing the Canucks this week:

WHAT TO DO WITH VEY

The Canucks haven tendered qualifying offers to restricted free agents Emerson Etem, Alex Grenier, Mike Zalewski and Andrey Pedan. They have until Monday to qualify Linden Vey, but there are several issues at play with the struggling centre.

It's been an extremely trying season on and off the ice for Linden Vey.

From a playing perspective, where does he fit? Henrik Sedin, Brandon Sutter, Bo Horvat, Markus Granlund and Brendan Gaunce are higher on the depth chart — even though Gaunce can play wing and centre Jared McCann was traded to Florida in the Gudbranson deal — and Vey, 24, is coming off a trying season and an expiring one-year, one-way contract. He didn't start the season here and cleared waivers. He played 26 games with the Utica Comets and just 41 for the Canucks, in which he had but four goals and 11 assists.

Off the ice, Vey has had to deal with a shocking family nightmare. On June 5, his father, Curtis Vey, and Angela Nicholson — a Saskatchewan couple accused of plotting to kill their spouses in 2013 — were found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder against Jim Taylor, Nicholson’s husband, and Brigitte Vey, the centre’s mother.

So, what do the Canucks do?

They could try and move Vey at the draft because he would become a UFA on July 1 if not qualified. The centre could also opt for Europe for a fresh start mentally and physically.

The Canucks may let Group 6 UFAs Joe Cannata and Alex Friesen go to free agency and see how the market reacts before considering re-signing the minor-league goalie and centre, respectively. They’re also trying to move Alex Burrows, 35, and Chris Higgins, 33, before considering buying out one or both of wingers.

CANUCKS SLOT SIX AT NO. 5

The phone rang often and Benning listened to offers about moving down when the draft opens Friday, but he hasn’t budged. He’s going to get a good player fifth overall, regardless of what the Edmonton Oilers do with the fourth selection.

“Every day you wake up and it’s something different,” Benning said of ongoing Oiler rumours.

Centre/winger Pierre-Luc Dubois is one of six the Canucks have targeted with the fifth pick Friday.

Edmonton needs to add a top-pairing defenceman and would part with a top-flight winger. They could move the pick in a trade package or select a winger to supplant the departed roster player. London Knights left-winger Matthew Tkachuk makes sense as a prime prospect to pick fourth and Cape Breton sniper Pierre-Luc Dubois has also piqued their interest because the centre has played wing.

“We’re content and we’re getting a good player at No. 5 and it doesn’t matter what happens at No. 3 or No. 4,” stressed Benning, who is high on Dubois. “There are six players we really like.”

One way to add draft picks or land a prospect is to either ship a bad contract or take one on. Neither proposition interests Benning for obvious reasons.

Cap-challenged Chicago received a second-round 2016 pick and a 2017 third-round pick Wednesday from Carolina for dumping the $4.5 million contract of buyout candidate Bryan Bickell, 30, but had to surrender promising winger Teuvo Teravainen, 21. The Blackhawks have depth and the Hurricanes need skill and needed to get closer to the cap floor.

Detroit will have to part with a player or top prospect for someone to take on the $7.5 million cap hit left by Pavel Datsyuk leaving for the Kontinental Hockey League. It’s one way to pry away talent if you’re near the cap floor, not the ceiling.

“We’re not looking to take on a contract like that,” said Benning. “We want to try and field a competitive team and if we’re going to use that cap space, we’re going to use it to bring in a real player who can help us be competitive.

“Free agency is going to be interesting with the given that the cap may not go up a lot and with where some teams are cap wise. We’ll look at the terms and money that gets handed out. When the music stops, are there going to be players who don’t have a chair to sit down in? This is unlike other years and I’m curious to see how it all transpires.

“If we could add two forwards to help us out with scoring, that would give us the best chance to be competitive.”

In a perfect world, Benning would land UFA wingers he wouldn’t be tied down to long term — like the two-year commitment in the expiring deal for Radim Vrbata — but if 30-goal, first-line winger Loui Eriksson, 30 tops the wish list, he won’t come cheap or for a short term.

FILLING THE GULUTZAN VOID

Expect the Canucks to go old school to replace departed assistant coach Glen Gultuzan, who was introduced as the new Calgary Flames coach Friday.

Travis Green prefers to keep running the AHL bench in Utica, for now.

Gulutzan handled the penalty kill and Benning is looking for a veteran to work with Willie Desjardins, Perry Pearn and Doug Lidster because Travis Green, who has a year remaining on his contract, prefers to remain with the Utica Comets — for now. The Canucks might also be looking for an AHL assistant if Paul Jerrard, who worked with Gulutzan in Texas (AHL) and Dallas (NHL), is added to the Flames staff.

“We’re going to interview three or four at the draft and fly more in next week and go through the process and find a guy who ticks the boxes,” said Benning. “We would like a veteran guy with experience on the defensive side who’s good with system analysis and working with our centres on positioning and face-offs."

The Canucks had the league’s worst faceoff efficiency last season (45.4 per cent) and former Canuck centre Manny Malhotra would be a good addition as a consultant. What about as an assistant?

“I hear nothing but great things about him as a person and player when he was here, but for us the only box he doesn’t tick is experience and winning in the business.” said Benning.

OVERTIME — The Canucks’ regular-season home-opener is Oct. 15 against the Flames. The full schedule will be released Tuesday.

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